GWU goes cold late, falls at PC 57-54

By Special to The Star

Published: Wednesday, February 6, 2013 at 09:29 PM.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs came out with inside buckets on the first two possessions of the second half to retake the lead, 33-32. Donta Harper added a free throw with 16:13 left for a 34-32 lead and picked off a pass for a two-handed slam with 15:58 on the clock for a 36-32 edge.

Newsome connected on a 3-pointer late in the shot clock to put the ‘Dogs up five, and Max Landis made the score 41-36 on a short jumper just before the first dead ball of the half forced the under-16 media timeout with 12:18 on the game clock. The lead grew to seven points, 43-36, on a Jerome Hill tip in with 11:53 to play.

After Presbyterian seemed to get untracked, GWU’s pressure defense that sparked a 6-0 run and its largest lead of the game, 49-41, after a pair of Davis free throws with 9:19 to play.

The Blue Hose would not go away, however, and with the ’Dogs going cold from the field, PC would ease ahead, setting up the frantic finish.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs hit eight of their first 11 shots in the game, but finished at just 38.5 percent (20-of-52). Gardner-Webb also saw a sizeable advantage on the glass disappear down the stretch, with the Blue Hose outrebounding the ‘Dogs 9-0 over the last seven minutes of play.

The contest marked only the third time all season that a team has shot 50 percent or better against Gardner-Webb.

Eric Washington led the Blue Hose with 13 points, Khalid Downing added 11 and McTavish joined Mutakabbir with 10 points.

CLINTON, S.C. – Just when it seemed Gardner-Webb had things under control Wednesday night, the host Presbyterian College squad went on a 14-3 run to got back in front and beat the Runnin’ Bulldogs, 57-54, at The Templeton Center.

After the run by Presbyterian (6-18, 3-7 Big South) put the Runnin’ Bulldogs in a 55-52 hole with 2:06 left, Tashan Newsome was able to hit a 17-foot jumper and get GWU (13-11, 5-5 Big South) within 55-54 with 40 seconds left.

The Blue Hose though run the shot clock down and Ryan McTavish’s layup pushed PC back up by three with 5.7 seconds left to play.

Presbyterian then fouled on the inbounds catch to bleed a few tenths off the clock, and Newsome’s straightaway 3-pointer with 1.6 seconds to go was long. The rebound was tipped away, snapping GWU’s three-game win streak.

Newsome finished with a game-high 23 points – his third in a row with more than 20 – making 8-of-13 shots from the floor and 4-of-5 from long distance. Jarvis Davis came off the bench again to reach double figures, scoring 10 points and Donta Harper added nine.

Gardner-Webb led by as many as six in the first half before a late 11-1 run allowed PC to get to halftime with a 32-29 edge.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs came out with inside buckets on the first two possessions of the second half to retake the lead, 33-32. Donta Harper added a free throw with 16:13 left for a 34-32 lead and picked off a pass for a two-handed slam with 15:58 on the clock for a 36-32 edge.

Newsome connected on a 3-pointer late in the shot clock to put the ‘Dogs up five, and Max Landis made the score 41-36 on a short jumper just before the first dead ball of the half forced the under-16 media timeout with 12:18 on the game clock. The lead grew to seven points, 43-36, on a Jerome Hill tip in with 11:53 to play.

After Presbyterian seemed to get untracked, GWU’s pressure defense that sparked a 6-0 run and its largest lead of the game, 49-41, after a pair of Davis free throws with 9:19 to play.

The Blue Hose would not go away, however, and with the ’Dogs going cold from the field, PC would ease ahead, setting up the frantic finish.

The Runnin’ Bulldogs hit eight of their first 11 shots in the game, but finished at just 38.5 percent (20-of-52). Gardner-Webb also saw a sizeable advantage on the glass disappear down the stretch, with the Blue Hose outrebounding the ‘Dogs 9-0 over the last seven minutes of play.

The contest marked only the third time all season that a team has shot 50 percent or better against Gardner-Webb.

Eric Washington led the Blue Hose with 13 points, Khalid Downing added 11 and McTavish joined Mutakabbir with 10 points.

Gardner-Webb returns home to face Liberty at 7 p.m. Saturday in Porter Arena.